I feel as though all I've done is feed the baby, pump for the baby, wash all the paraphernalia related to feeding the baby, and report on how feeding the baby is going! So here's a quick rundown of what's happening in other areas of life.
My parents left for Wisconsin on September 12. Dad had driven here on Saturday, so we only had one full day together because of his work schedule. We attended church together in the morning, and then we met some friends of ours from Cedarville at Young's for dinner that evening. Harold and Joanne K hosted my parents each time they drove me to college, and Joanne was my boss when I worked at the college in the admissions office. They are a dear, sweet couple, and it was so nice to see them. As a bonus, I also ran into my professor Dr. Ager, with whom I traveled to Hungary twice! It was so wonderful to catch up with him and his wife, as well as PG's wife--those who are familiar with Cedarville (at least my era) will remember Pastor Green, who passed away this year.
The day after Mom and Dad left, Megan, my college roomie, drove down from Michigan with her daughter Sela to spend the rest of the week with us, helping me with all my feeding-the-baby issues and doing other general helpful things. It was so wonderful to have her here! We laughed and giggled like we did in college, and it was a HUGE stress reliever to be able to laugh after such an emotional time with Zaden. It was also nice to bounce ideas about the whole feeding situation around together. And of course it was wonderful to be able to take naps and just really focus on Zaden while she and Sela entertained the kids, worked on meals, and did whatever needed to be done. It was all I could do to not have a meltdown when she left on Friday, LOL! By God's grace, we've made it through 4 days without live-in help!
On Sunday I managed to get us all to church in time for the second service. Unfortunately, during the singing, a volunteer came to tell me that Lucan was crying inconsolably in his classroom. He has NEVER done this before, but that day he was just beside himself. I had Zaden in the sling--he was sound asleep--and I'm sure I was quite a sight, with an infant in the sling in front of me and a sobbing Lucan on my left hip. I sat down with him and held him and rocked him back and forth, but nothing made a difference until I started singing to him softly. He calmed down and finally started talking about random things with me. I figured I would take him back to his classroom and stay with him, but as soon as we even walked in that direction, he began screaming again. So I gave up on that and decided instead to pop into my Sunday school class, where people welcomed us and quickly pulled up a couple of chairs. Lucan sat quite happily beside me, munching pretzels and backwashing majorly into what had been my water bottle. As we had just finished reading the book of Job, it was rather appropriate that I attended class after all, LOL! It was a good discussion, and I'm just glad I was able to leave church feeling as though my soul had been fed after all.
Sunday evening was the annual church picnic. A couple from my Sunday school class called to see if I was going, then said they would look for me and help out with the kids. It was so wonderful to have extra hands to help hold plates and so on! The older kids ran around with friends and played games, and I got to chat with a few people despite all the chaos. It was nice to be out and about doing something that didn't involve going to the doctor, ha!
I guess those are some of the highlights from the past week or so. I still kind of feel as though I'm in a fog, and I don't figure I'll emerge from that feeling for quite some time. Between running low on sleep and trying to keep up with Zaden's feeding schedule, anything good that is accomplished around here is only done by the grace of God. I struggle with wanting so badly to "really" be homeschooling, to make sure my kids are "keeping up," and wishing I myself could keep up with the ever-growing piles of dirt and clutter. But I constantly remind myself that I need to focus on what's really important in light of eternity--this year is bringing that to the forefront of my mind more frequently than ever. It's hard to let go of things, but I need to. I'll drive myself mad otherwise. (I often wonder as I walk down that long hallway at the hospital if it's a coincidence that one has to pass the Mental Health clinic before reaching the Pediatric clinic...I confess I've had the thought more than once that I just may have to visit them both one day!)
Aaaaaand it's time to feed Zaden again!
No comments:
Post a Comment